Chuck Fletcher has been on the job since mid-season in 2018-19 and his three and a half years have been tumultuous, somewhat controversial, and typically “Flyers”. His trades and free agent signings have been hit and misses, but one area he’s done a relatively good job in is drafting. It’s probably too early to tell since he’s only been a part of three drafts, but when you compare it to Ron Hextall’s first three drafts, it’s pretty comparable. Where they differ is the amount of picks that were made because Hextall accumulated draft assets, whereas Fletcher has been either sitting still or making moves with his draft capital being the focal point of his deals.
For this exercise, we examine the first three drafts and how they performed in the 1-3 seasons after being chosen by the Philadelphia Flyers. Ron Hextall was dubbed as the draft guru for several years as he was tasked to lead the Flyers through a rebuild. He traded the dead weight contracts, made draft capital the focal point of his tenure, and tried to replenish and stock pile the desolate pipeline that was the future of the Flyers. In a way he accomplished the last feat as he had 25 picks in his first three drafts compared to Fletcher’s 18. Within his first three drafts, the generally patient Hextall only allowed two of the 25 players to play on the Flyers’ roster in Ivan Provorov and Travis Konecny. The rest were tasked to develop their game, hone their skills, and try to compete for a spot somewhere down the line when the team was “ready” for the big leap.
Fletcher on the other hand has had three players play in the NHL but that was mostly this year with Cam York appearing in 30 of his 33 career games and both Bobby Brink and Ronnie Attard signing their ELCs and immediately being placed into the lineup after their collegiate seasons were done.
Of the 25 players that Hextall drafted, 16 players have eventually graduated and played in at least one NHL game wearing a Flyers uniform. Ivan Provorov, Travis Konecny, Travis Sanheim, Carter Hart, and Oskar Lindblom have been regular mainstays since at least 2016-17 and 2018-19. The 4 players have combined for 1,476 games, 248 goals, 426 assists, 774 points, while Hart has played in 146 games and has posted a 62-61-16 record. 2 players in Nicolas Aube-Kubel and Connor Bunnaman have featured in at least parts of 3 seasons with 156 games between the two but only 11 goals, 19 assists, and 30 points to show for. The rest of the 8 players have combined for 98 games and Felix Sandstrom has started 5 games.
Only 11 of the 25 remain in the Flyers organization with 7 never having played a part of any Flyers-related teams or affiliates, 1 in Ivan Fedotov who is finally ready to make the leap, 2 claimed off waivers in Aube-Kubel and Mark Friedman, 1 claimed in the expansion draft in Carsen Twarynski, and 2 traded to Florida as a part of the Claude Giroux trade in Bunnaman and German Rubtsov.
We gave Hextall the benefit of the doubt for years with his patience, his attempted rebuild, and all the prospects that were going to serve the Flyers well in the future. Yes, they have 5 players to really show for it, but at the moment it’s not all rainbows and sunshine. Ivan Provorov has had back-to-back rough seasons anchoring the Flyers defense and had found himself on the trade block for a short while before the Ryan Ellis injury saga took a weird turn. Travis Sanheim took a few years to finally explode and become the top-four defenseman the Flyers anticipated him to be when they drafted him in the first round but he’s going to need to have back-to-back showings for us to truly believe in his development. Travis Konecny has led the team in scoring twice but has found himself in a weird goal-scoring pinch since the COVID bubble as he has only lit the lamp 27 times in his last 145 games. Carter Hart has had an up and down start to his career and Oskar Lindblom looked to be on the right track before his cancer diagnosis.
Meanwhile, Chuck Fletcher has had three players play an NHL game and they all have impressed in their own way. Cam York looks to play a pivotal role on the back-end for years to come while also quarterbacking the power play. Bobby Brink was a Hobey Baker Award finalist for top collegiate player after he led the circuit in points, while Ronnie Attard has shown an aggressiveness and offensive prowess that the Flyers defense has been lacking.
There are a few hidden gems that Fletcher has unearthed over the years in Elliot Desnoyers and Connor McClennon, who have 137 points and 114 points in the last two seasons, respectively. Both players were late round picks as Desnoyers was taken in the 5th round of the 2020 draft and McClennon was taken one round later in the same draft. The Flyers’ brass have been impressed and have high hopes that Tyson Foerster will be the shoot-first type player the Flyers have been lacking and that Zayde Wisdom could provide some pop in the top-nine.
With the NHL Draft set to take place on the 7th and 8th of July, the Flyers will be selecting 5th overall after finishing fourth-last in the regular season. The New Jersey Devils leapfrogged a few teams including the Flyers, which pushed them one pick down. However, the 2022 draft is supposed to be top-heavy with the good talent falling between picks 1-10, essentially giving the Flyers the opportunity to draft a difference maker for the future. Fletcher might not have the best resume in terms of trades and free agent signings but his drafting has been pretty good, all things considered. They don’t have a second round pick, which will hamper their chances of having a truly successful draft but if they are able to draft any one of David Jiricek, Simon Nemec, or Joakim Kemell, it will be a good draft. Odds are that at least 2 of them will be available with Shane Wright, Logan Cooley, and Juraj Slafkovsky pegged to go with the first 3 picks.
We have all been disappointed with Fletcher and his last two years and sometimes it’s tough to see the bright side of his tenure but his drafting provides something. We can all agree that York and Brink will serve as pivotal cogs in the future and the jury is out on several players like Attard, Desnoyers, and McClennon among others. It’s a small sample size as they’ve only been with the organization for less than 3 years but compared to a lot of picks that were made by Hextall, they look to be upgrades for the time being. Hextall didn’t draft many players who had accumulated 100+ points and above a point-per-game average after being drafted. Provorov, Konecny, Hart, and Sanheim are key players right now but 3 of those 4 names have appeared on the trade block at some time in the last few seasons with Fletcher even telling Konecny that he would’ve been traded had he not wanted to give him another chance. The prospects look good and that’s all we can say in the moment but let’s not forget how we touted Hextall and his prospects; Fletcher at least deserves some of that.
Ron Hextall
2014 NHL Draft
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Player
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Draft Position
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Stats between 2014-15 and 2016-17
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Where are they now?
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Travis Sanheim
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Round 1/Pick 17
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Parts of 2 seasons with the Calgary Hitmen: 119 games played, 30 goals, 103 assists,133 points
Parts of 2 seasons with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms: 80 games played, 11 goals, 29 assists, 40 points
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Parts of 5 seasons with the Flyers: 335 games played, 29 goals, 87 assists, 116 points
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Nicolas Aube-Kubel
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Round 2/Pick 48
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2 seasons with the Val d’Or Foreurs: 122 games, 76 goals, 88 assists,164 points
Parts of 2 seasons with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms: 77 games played, 11 goals, 10 assists, 21 points
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Parts of 4 seasons with the Flyers: 102 games, 10 goals, 18 assists, 28 points
Placed on waivers in 2021-22 and claimed by the Colorado Avalanche, playing in 67 games, scoring 11 goals and 11 assists, for 22 points
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Mark Friedman
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Round 3/Pick 86
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3 seasons with Bowling Green State University: 121 games played, 16 goals, 52 assists, 68 points
1 game with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms: 1 assist
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Parts of 3 seasons with the Flyers: 11 games, 0 goals, 1 assist
Placed on waivers in 2020-21 and claimed by the Pittsburgh Penguins, playing in 31 games across 2 seasons with 3 goals and 8 points
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Oskar Lindblom
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Round 5/Pick 138
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3 seasons with Brynas IF Gavle: 137 games played, 38 goals, 49 assists, 87 points
Part of 1 season with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms: 8 games played, 2 goals, 5 assists, 7 points
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Parts of 5 seasons with the Flyers: 263 games played, 50 goals, 47 assists, 97 points
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Radel Fazleev
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Round 6/Pick 168
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2 seasons with the Calgary Hitmen: 130 games played, 37 goals, 85 assists, 121 points
1 season with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms: 65 games played, 6 goals, 10 assists, 16 points
1 game with the Reading Royals of the ECHL, 0 points
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Played parts of 2 seasons with the Phantoms afterwards, appearing in 78 games, scoring 4 goals and 21 points but both parties agreed to a mutual termination of his contract as he signed with Nizhnekamsk Neftekhimik of the KHL
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Jesper Pettersson
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Round 7/Pick 198
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Parts of 2 seasons with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms: 75 games played, 3 goals, 7 assists, 10 points
Parts of 2 seasons with the Reading Royals: 101 games played, 8 goals, 35 assists, 43 points
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After 3 seasons with the Flyers organizations, Pettersson, he returned to Sweden to play for Djurgardens IF in 2017
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2015 NHL Draft
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Player
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Draft Position
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Stats between 2015-16 and 2016-17
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Where are they now?
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Ivan Provorov
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Round 1/Pick 7
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1 season with the Brandon Wheat Kings: 62 games, 21 goals, 52 assists, 73 points
1 season with the Philadelphia Flyers: 82 games played, 6 goals, 24 assists, 30 assists
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6 seasons with the Flyers, playing in 450 games, 59 goals, 131 assists, and 190 points
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Travis Konecny
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Round 1/Pick 24
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Parts of 1 season with the Ottawa 67’s: 29 games played, 7 goals, 38 assists, 45 points
Parts of 1 season with the Sarnia Sting: 31 games played, 23 goals, 33 assists, 56 points
1 season with the Philadelphia Flyers: 70 games played, 11 goals, 17 assists, 28 points
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6 seasons with the Flyers, playing 428 games, 110 goals, 161 assists, 271 points
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Felix Sandstrom
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Round 3/Pick 70
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3 games with Brynas Jr: 3-0-0/2.65 GAA/.910 SV
2 seasons with Brynas IF Gavle: 24-21-0/2.40 GAA/.905 SV
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Finally made his NHL debut in 2021-22: 0-4-1/3.23 GAA/.910 SV
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Matej Tomek
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Round 3/Pick 90
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Only played 2 games with the University of North Dakota in 2016-17 allowing 4 goals on 13 shots in only 32 minutes
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Played in the NCHC, USHL, and then a few leagues in Europe but never within the Flyers organization
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Samuel Dove-McFalls
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Round 4/Pick 98
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Parts of 2 seasons with the Saint John Sea Dogs: 94 games played, 22 goals 43 assists, 65 points
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Played a season with the Rimouski Oceanic before playing in parts of 3 seasons with the University of New Brunswick and 11 games with the Grand Rapids Griffins
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Mikhail Vorobyev
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Round 4/Pick 104
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2 seasons with Ufa Salavat Yulayev: 72 games played, 5 goals, 9 assists, 14 points
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Played in parts of 3 seasons with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms: 145 games played, 28 goals, 55 assists, 83 points
Played in parts of 2 seasons with the Flyers: 35 games played, 2 goals, 3 assists, 5 points before re-joining Ufa Salavat in the KHL
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David Kase
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Round 5/Pick 128
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Parts of 2 seasons with Chomutov Pirati of the Czech league: 62 games played, 4 goals, 6 assists, 10 points
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Played in parts of 3 seasons with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms: 110 games played, 18 goals, 33 assists, 51 points
Played in 7 NHL games in parts of 2 seasons with the Flyers, scoring once
He was loaned to Czech league in the summer of 2020 and then returned in the summer of 2021
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Cooper Marody
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Round 6/Pick 158
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Parts of 2 seasons with the University of Michigan: 50 games played, 15 goals, 24 assists, 39 points
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Flyers traded his rights to the Edmonton Oilers in March of 2018 in exchange for a third round pick in 2019.
Has appeared in 7 NHL games for the Oilers in parts of 2 seasons.
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Ivan Fedotov
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Round 7/Pick 188
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Was in the farm system of Ufa Salavat Yulaev of the KHL, so no stats to show within this period.
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From 2017-18 to 2021-22, Fedotov has played in parts of 5 seasons with 3 different KHL teams: 88n games played, 40-33-7, while posting a save percentage above 92% and a GAA in and around 2.10
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2016 NHL Draft
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Player
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Draft Position
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Stats in the 2016-17 season
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Where are they now?
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German Rubtsov
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Round 1/Pick 22
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15 games played with Podolsk Vityaz, going pointless
16 games with the Chicoutimi Sagueneens, scoring 9 goals and adding 13 assists for 22 points
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Played in part of 3 seasons with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms: 93 games played, 10 goals, 19 assists, 29 points
Played in 4 NHL games in 2019-20 and was traded to the Florida Panthers as a part of the Claude Giroux trade
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Pascal Laberge
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Round 2/Pick 36
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Played in 46 gamester the Victoriaville Tigres of the QMJHL, scoring 12 goals and adding 20 assists for 32 points
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Was often injured as he only played in 54 games over the course of 4 seasons with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, scoring 15 goals and adding 5 assists
Pittsburgh Penguins signed Laberge to a PTO in 2022, appeared in 1 AHL game but played in 40 games for the Maine Mariners, scoring 18 goals and 40 points
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Carter Hart
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Round 2/Pick 48
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1 season with the Everett Silvertips of the WHL: 54 games played, 32-11-2/1.99 GAA/.927 SV/9 SO
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Played in parts of 4 seasons with the Flyers: 146 games played, 62-61-16/2.97 GAA/.905 SV/3 SO
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Wade Allison
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Round 2/Pick 52
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1 season with Western Michigan University: 36 games played, 12 goals, 17 assists, 29 points
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Played 3 more seasons with Western Michigan: 70 games played, 33 goals, 35 assists, 68 points
Played in parts of 2 seasons with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms: 38 games played, 14 goals, 12 assists, 26 points
Parts of 2 seasons with the Flyers: 15 games played, 4 goals, 3 assists, 7 points
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Carsen Twarynski
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Round 3/Pick 82
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1 season with the Calgary Hitmen: 36 games played, 10 goals, 11 assists, 21 points
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Played in parts of 4 seasons with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms: 107 games played, 18 goals, 20 assists, 38 points
Played in parts of 2 seasons with the Flyers: 22 games with only 1 goal
Claimed in the expansion draft by the Seattle Kraken
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Connor Bunnaman
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Round 4/Pick 109
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1 season with the Kitchener Rangers: 64 games played, 37 goals, 15 assists, 52 points
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Played in parts of 4 seasons with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms: 147 games played, 32 goals, 22 assists, 54 points
Played in parts of 3 seasons: 54 games played, 1 goal and 1 assist
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Linus Hogberg
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Round 5/Pick 139
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Part of one season with Vaxjo Lakers Jr. of the Swedish Jr circuit: 11 gamers played, 1 goal, 8 assists, 9 points
Part of one season with Vaxjo Hc of the Swedish Hockey League: 35 games played, 0 goals, 4 assists
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Spent 3 more seasons with Vaxjo of the Swedish Hockey League: 144 games played, 9 goals, 21 assists, 30 points
Parts of 2 seasons with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms: 84 games played, 2 goals, 14 assists, 16 points
Made his NHL debut at the end of the 2021-22 season: 5 games played, 0 goals, 2 assists
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Tanner Laczynski
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Round 6/Pick 169
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1 season with Ohio State University: 34 games played, 10 goals, 22 assists, 32 points
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Spent 3 more seasons with Ohio State: 104 games played, 38 goals, 73 assists, 111 points
Parts of 2 seasons with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms: 42 games played, 13 goals, 14 assists, 27 points
Parts of 2 seasons with the Flyers: 6 games, 0 points
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Anthony Salinitri
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Round 6/Pick 172
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1 season with the Sarnia Sting: 66 games played, 28 goals, 30 assists, 58 points
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Spent parts of 2 more seasons with Sarnia: 92 games played, 41 goals, 45 assists, 86 points
Part of one season with Oshawa Generals: 43 games played, 34 goals, 26 assists, 60 points
Flyers opted not to sign Salinitri
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David Bernhardt
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Round 7/Pick 199
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Part of one season with Djurgardens Jr.: 21 games played, 9 goals, 12 assists, 21 points
Part of one season with Djurgardens IF of the Swedish Hockey League: 27 games played, 2 goals, 5 assists, 7 points
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Spent parts of 2 more seasons with Djurgardens IF: 67 games played, 1 goal, 11 assists, 12 points
Parts of 2 seasons with Vaxjo HC: 29 games played, 3 goals, 4 assists, 7 points
Parts of 2 seasons with SaiPa Lappeenranta of the SM Liiga: 68 games played, 4 goals, 14 assists, 18 points
Part of one season with HIFK Helsinki: 10 games, pointless
Flyers opted not to sign him
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Chuck Fletcher
2019 NHL Draft
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Player
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Draft Position
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Stats between 2019-20 and 2021-22
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Where are they now?
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Cam York
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Round 1/Pick 14
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2 seasons with University of Michigan: 54 games played, 9 goals, 27 assists, 36 points
Parts of 2 seasons with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms: 42 games played, 5 goals, 13 assists, 18 points
Parts of 2 seasons with the Flyers: 33 games played, 3 goals, 7 assists, 10 points
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Recorded his first NHL goal, assist, points in 2021-22 while appearing in 30 games and having have split time with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms
Was on the top pair with Provorov before season ending injury
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Bobby Brink
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Round 2/Pick 34
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Parts of 3 seasons with the University of Denver: 84 games played, 27 goals, 65 assists, 92 points
Played in 10 NHL games with the Flyers
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Signed his ELC and made his NHL debut in 2021-22, appearing in 10 games and adding 4 assists
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Ronnie Attard
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Round 3/Pick 72
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Parts of 3 seasons with Western Michigan University: 94 games played, 27 goals, 45 assists, 72 points
Played in 15 NHL games with the Flyers
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Signed his ELC and made his NHL debut in 2021-22, appearing in 15 games, scoring 2 goals and adding 2 assists
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Mason Millman
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Round 4/Pick 103
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1 season with the Saginaw Spirit: 58 games played, 13 goals, 31 assists, 44 points
2 seasons with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms: 25 games, 0 goals, 4 assists
Part of 1 season with the Reading Royals of the ECHL: 36 games played, 8 goals, 17 assists, 25 points
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Currently in the minors, flipping between the AHL and ECHL
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Egor Serdyuk
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Round 6/Pick 165
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Parts of 2 seasons with Victoriaville Tigres of the QMJHL: 76 games played, 24 goals, 35 assists, 59 points
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Flyers opted not to sign him to an ELC
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Roddy Ross
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Round 6/Pick 169
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1 season with the Seattle Thunderbirds: 39 games played, 20-21-7/3.17 GAA/.908 SV
1 season with the Regina Pats: 16 games played, 6-8-2/3.75 GAA/.874
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Flyers opted not to sign him to an ELC
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Bryce Brodzinski
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Round 7/Pick 196
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3 seasons with the University of Minnesota: 106 games played, 27 goals, 25 assists, 42 points
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Looking to sign an ELC
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2020 NHL Draft
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Player
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Draft Position
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Stats between 2020-21 and 2021-22
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Tyson Foerster
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Round 1/Pick 23
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Parts of 2 seasons with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms: 33 games played, 12 goals, 8 assists, 20 points
Part of one season with the Barrie Colts: 13 games played, 6 goals, 5 assists, 11 points
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Emil Andrae
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Round 2/Pick 54
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Part of one season with HV71 Jonkoping of the Swedish Hockey League: 31 games played, 0 goals, 7 assists
Part of one season with Vasterviks IK: 15 games played, 3 goals, 3 assists, 6 points
1 season with HV71 Jonkoping: 41 games played, 9 goals, 24 assists, 33 points
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Zayde Wisdom
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Round 4/Pick 94
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Part of one season with Lehigh Valley Phantoms: 28 games played, 7 goals, 11 assists, 18 points
1 season with the Kingston Frontenacs: 43 games played, 9 goals, 29 assists, 38 points
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Elliot Desnoyers
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Round 5/Pick 135
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2 seasons with the Halifax Mooseheads: 98 games played, 63 goals, 74 assists, 137 points
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Connor McClennon
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Round 6/Pick 178
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2 seasons with the Winnipeg Ice: 86 games played, 57 goals, 57 assists, 114 points
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2021 NHL Draft
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Player
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Draft Position
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Stats in the 2021-22 season
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Samu Tuomaala
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Round 2/Pick 46
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2 games with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, going pointless
13 games played with Sport Vaasa, 1 goal, 1 assist, 2 points
8 games played with Jukurit Mikkeli, 0 goals, 1 assist
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Alexei Kolosov
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Round 3/Pick 78
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22 games played with Minsk Dynamo: 11-9-1/2.90 GAA/.906 SV
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Brian Zanetti
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Round 4/Pick 110
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56 games played with Peterborough Petes, 4 goals, 22 assists, 26 points
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Ty Murchison
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Round 5/Pick 158
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35 games played with Arizona State University, 4 goals, 3 assists, 7 points
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Ethan Samson
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Round 6/Pick 174
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68 games played with Prince George Cougars: 15 goals, 28 assists, 43 points
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Owen McLaughlin
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Round 7/Pick 206
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62 games player with Sioux City Musketeers, 28 goals, 44 assists, 72 points
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